Strangely, there was no grief in Cheng Shi's eyes.
Or rather, He didn't care about Bailing's Death at all.
He continuously accelerated His metabolism, attempting to use the Time's magic to erase the control effect brought by the negative state.
But unfortunately, the real world was not a turn-based game, and while Cheng Shi struggled, the guard wasn't idle either.
As a Singer, applying negative states to enemies was His specialty. He constantly unleashed His tricks, squeezing Cheng Shi's limited survival space.
Not long after, Cheng Shi felt His strength waning, losing the struggle at the edge of Death and being completely defeated, left only to wait for Death.
The guard walked up to Cheng Shi, saw that He was no longer moving, His eyes dull, and sighed with a shake of His head:
"Underground bugs should stay underground, but sometimes, bugs also have their uses. I like you, and I also dislike you. Alas, it's truly contradictory."
But before He could finish speaking, the guard suddenly raised His sword and stabbed down, piercing Cheng Shi's chest like a bolt of lightning.
Giving Him absolutely no chance to turn the tables.
"Screech!"
The tip of the sword pierced His heart.
Cheng Shi's eyes snapped open, His pupils constricting. After only a few seconds, the light in His eyes completely dissipated.
The second before His vision completely plunged into darkness, He saw the door directly opposite suddenly being kicked open with a "bang," and a familiar face came into view.
"Cheng Ge!!??"
It was A Ming.
But He was a step too late.
Cheng Shi smiled unwillingly and completely closed His eyes.
...
As soon as A Ming entered the door, He felt the strong power of Order. He looked at His two fallen teammates and, with a frenzied expression, charged towards the guard, who was looking horrified.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!!"
"How is this possible? This is the realm of Order. How can you not be bound!?
"Order? I am Order!"
This was clearly blasphemous, but A Ming did not receive divine punishment!
He muttered something frantically under His breath, His expression twisted and fierce. With a flash, He appeared behind the guard.
The guard couldn't react in Time, His expression of terror became even more exaggerated. He seemed to want to shout something, but before He could, a bloodstained dagger penetrated His back.
Then, it went straight through His chest.
A murky yellow light flashed on the dagger and disappeared. The guard looked at the tip of the blade in His chest, spurted a mouthful of foul blood, and died with His eyes wide open.
"Cheng Ge! I've avenged you!"
A Ming's voice was distorted and choked. He kicked away the body in front of Him and slumped powerlessly to the ground, His eyes vacant.
Just then, Fang Shiqing rushed in from outside with Xu Lu.
A Ming looked up at them, His eyes still glistening with tears.
Xu Lu's face turned pale by a third upon seeing the gruesome scene, and she tightly clutched Fang Shiqing's sleeve.
Although she didn't like Cheng Shi, being fellow Players made her feel a sense of shared sorrow.
Fang Shiqing looked at everything before her, at the dead Bailing and Cheng Shi, and bit her Mouth tightly.
Almost devoid of color.
"How could this happen..."
But she quickly reacted, immediately turned back and closed the door, saying with a serious expression:
"What happened?"
"I don't know, I was a bit late. I was exploring on the second floor at the Time and heard a noise from this room, so I rushed over. By the Time I entered the door, Cheng Ge and Birdie, they..."
A Ming seemed very self-reproachful. He rubbed His hair and slammed His head on the ground.
"Who is on the bed?"
As soon as she asked, she saw Xu Lu's expression change. She pointed at the person on the bed and exclaimed:
"It's Him! The person who died in the prophecy is Him!"
Fang Shiqing's whole body trembled. She looked back at Xu Lu in disbelief.
She suddenly realized that the deceased on the bed was likely the Duke who had been missing all this Time.
Xu Lu saw that the scene was exactly the same as the blurred image in the prophecy and murmured distractedly:
"So it wasn't us who were going to die, but... the Duke died. Then that Cheng..."
Although no Players died in the prophecy, now, indeed, two Players had died.
Looking at this scene, there were only two possibilities:
Either Cheng Shi stumbled upon the guard killing someone, and the guard silenced Him.
Or the guard stumbled upon Cheng Shi killing someone, and Cheng Shi failed to counter-kill.
As for which one...
As soon as Fang Shiqing finished stating her speculation, Xu Lu beside her lowered her head and said:
"I think... it should be the guard who saw Cheng Shi killing someone..."
Fang Shiqing's face turned stern, a flicker of disdain passing through her eyes. She asked in a cold tone:
"Why?"
"He might have wanted to steal the Duke's identity... He, seems like... like that kind of person."
Knowing that saying these things now was not good, but Xu Lu, for some reason, still bravely stated her guess.
Fang Shiqing frowned upon hearing this, but still held back from getting angry.
"Sister Fang... What do we do... now?"
Fang Shiqing looked at her watch. Nearly 7 hours had passed, and there were only a little over 5 hours left.
"You two go out first and find a way to guard the door. As companions, we should at least send them off."
A Ming looked at Fang Shiqing blankly, seemingly remembering that this Da Lao was also a Singer.
Singers record stories, and the protagonists of stories are often all kinds of people.
Of course, that also includes all kinds of dead people.
So they are good at singing funeral songs and reciting eulogies for people.
Xu Lu felt that this ritual might be a waste of Time, but she saw Fang Shiqing's determined expression and still bit her Mouth, lifting her leg to walk outside.
A Ming followed closely, His head bowed so that His expression was unclear.
As Fang Shiqing passed Him, she patted His shoulder as a gesture of comfort.
After the two left the room and closed the door, the sorrow on her face instantly disappeared, replaced by a surge of anger.
She opened her book, tore off a page, and with a gentle flick, the entire room instantly fell into stillness. Even the drapery stirred by the breeze was frozen.
There was no longer any sound in the room; even the sound of breathing disappeared.
Then she paced over to Cheng Shi's side, looked at Cheng Shi who had died from a pierced heart, and laughed in anger.
Fang Shiqing remembered the scene when she woke up in Cheng Shi's arms in the thick fog earlier and felt a note in her chest.
At that Time, she secretly looked at the note while no one was paying attention.
It said:
"Respected Fire-Bearer Lady,
Seeing this letter is like meeting you, even though I am right beside you.
But please don't look at me, and don't laugh.
This is a plea for help, from the future me.
If I die, and you happen to encounter me, please save my Life.
Any healing spell can retrieve me from hell. Please, for the sake of the moment I was a Fire-Bearer candidate, extend a helping hand.
Your humble servant is eternally grateful.
Also, be careful when traveling in threes."
Looking at Cheng Shi at her feet now, wasn't He dead?
This scoundrel, how did He predict His own Death?
"How dare you trust me so much?
How could you be so sure I could come and save you?
You rejected me, aren't you afraid I would also reject you?
Scoundrel!"
Fang Shiqing's eyebrows were raised, and she lectured Cheng Shi for a good while.
The space was silenced, no one could hear, like a silent judgment.
But in the end, she resigned herself with a sigh, tore off another page from the book, crumpled it into a ball, and placed it on Cheng Shi's wound.
As soon as the page touched the wound, it turned into a green light carrying the aura of life and penetrated Cheng Shi's body.
Cheng Shi, who had been completely lifeless, instantly opened His eyes under the nourishment of the life light.
"Uh--hoo--uh--hoo--"
Violent gasping sounds rang out, but no one could hear them.
Looking at Cheng Shi's comical appearance, Fang Shiqing couldn't help but laugh.
Fresh air was inhaled into His lungs, and the long-lost feeling of being alive surged through His limbs, making Cheng Shi greedily take a few more breaths.
He's alive!
He came back to life!
The first thing He did was look up, not at Fang Shiqing, but at the watch in His pocket to see how much Time had passed.
When He saw that only about twenty minutes had passed since His Death, He exhaled a turbid breath in relief.
Releasing all the pressure in His heart.
Then He looked at the dead Bailing next to Him, and the guard who died with His eyes wide in anger, and suddenly started to laugh.
Laughing without sound, like a Clown in a silent movie.
The Da Lao is indeed reliable.
Or rather, the City Defender is indeed reliable!
Fang Shiqing saw Cheng Shi laughing happily by Himself, completely ignoring her, His savior, and angrily kicked Him twice.
Cheng Shi quickly got up and put His hands together in a bow to express His gratitude, then pointed at Bailing next to Him.
Fang Shiqing's face darkened. She pointed at the book in her hand and mouthed:
"Wasting book pages, you are a Priest, you save her yourself."
Cheng Shi had no choice but to snap His fingers.
As the silent snap of His fingers fell, Bailing's crushed body slowly filled out. In just a few breaths, her eyes opened again.
Retrospective healing, a gift from Time!
As soon as her clear eyes opened, they were filled with shock. She stared blankly at Cheng Shi and murmured:
"It's actually... true..."
Fang Shiqing read her lips and turned to look at Cheng Shi in confusion, as if asking "What's true?"
Cheng Shi spread His hands, indicating that He didn't know either.
Bailing saw that the Da Lao was still playing dumb and also started to laugh foolishly.
The bloodstains on her body wouldn't disappear due to the regression, but the bloodstained dress added a few more colors to Bailing.
Having "gained rebirth," she seemed to become more... alluring.
Fang Shiqing frowned, sensing that things were not simple.
The smell of corruption had become stronger.
Her gaze darted back and forth between Cheng Shi and Bailing, trying to figure out what had happened between them.
But Cheng Shi hid it well; no clues could be seen.
Bailing, however, was not good at disguising herself, but her eyes were like pulled silk, unable to leave Cheng Shi, which was disgusting to watch...
She didn't know what she was thinking.
Fang Shiqing naturally didn't know what Bailing was thinking, because right now, her mind was full of the scene between her and Cheng Shi in the closet earlier.
...